Big Brother UK (franchise)
}} ' '''is the United Kingdom version of the popular international reality show ''Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 4 for its first 11 seasons before moving to Channel 5 starting with Big Brother 12 (UK). The series has received much critical acclaim over its run, with several housemates becoming notable media figures following their time on the show. The popularity of the main series has resulted in four spin-off series (Teen Big Brother, Big Brother Panto, Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, and Ultimate Big Brother), as well as a celebrity edition of the show which has become a staple in its own right. How it Works Big Brother is a reality television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash prize by avoiding periodic evictions from the house. Civilian Series The UK version of the show largely follows the same format as the original Dutch version of Big Brother where each week the housemates will nominate two of their fellow housemates for eviction and the public will then vote to evict the two (or more) housemates who received the most nominations. Although the house is located in London and the majority of housemates are British, application is open to all citizens and permanent residents of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. What differentiates Big Brother UK ''from other versions of the show is not only its massive popularity but also its heavy reliance on twists. It is not uncommon for multiple twists to change the standard layout of the game each season, with past twists including the house being divided into Rich and Poor sides, housemates becoming "Power Housemates" and gaining special powers for the week, and housemates being fake evicted and moved into a secret house next door to the main house. It is not uncommon for housemates to move into the house after the series has already begun, and some of the tension on the show can come from the clash between people who have already been living in the house for a while and new people moving into the house. Celebrity Version The celebrity edition of the show contains a number of differences from the regular version of the show, although the core idea remains the same. With some exceptions, all housemates are celebrities in the outside world, and as such are often paid more for their appearance on the show than regular housemates are. Further, the celebrity version of the show often lasts for a much shorter time than the regular version does. Housemates are often only in the house for a maximum of about a month, as opposed to the 2-3 months regular housemates spend in the house. As a result of this, evictions on ''Celebrity Big Brother are held every few days rather than once a week, and double evictions are much more common. Originally, the winner would have the money they would have received from winning instead donated to a charity of their choice. This practice has since been discontinued, and the winner often receives no special prize at all outside of the money they were paid to appear on the show. Civilian Series History Celebrity Version History The first series of Celebrity Big Brother was intended to be a one-off special series for charity, and was held in association with Comic Relief. Only six housemates participated in the series, and they were only in the house for eight days. The series finale was aired on Red Nose Day 2001, and winner Jack Dee's winnings were donated to Comic Relief. The second series of the show continued the charity element of the original series, this time by having all proceeds gained from public voting split among four charities. This would be the last series to feature a charity component and all series since would be treated as a standard Big Brother series. Celebrity Big Brother 4 became notable due to the fact that its winner, Chantelle Houghton, was not a celebrity at all but instead tasked by Big Brother to convince her fellow housemates that she was a celebrity. The show was the subject of a large amount of controversy during Celebrity Big Brother 5 due to a number of racist and bullying comments made towards housemate Shilpa Shetty. In the midst of this, the series set the record for the most complaints ever received by a single show, with over 43,000 complaints being sent to TV watchdog Ofcom. When the regular version of Big Brother UK moved from Channel 4 to Channel 5, Celebrity Big Brother ''moved along with it, and [[Celebrity Big Brother 8|''Celebrity Big Brother 8]] became the first overall series of Big Brother to air on Channel 5. List of Series Ratings Trivia References Category:Big Brother Versions